A State to Local Initiative for Migrant Education Preschool. Cynthia Juarez Lexi Catlin

Transcription

1 A State to Local Initiative for Migrant Education Preschool Cynthia Juarez Lexi Catlin

2 Images contained in this power point are used with permission from the book The Growing Season, photos by Gary Harwood, text by David Hassler, published by Kent State University Press

3 Who We Are The ESD 105 Migrant Office in Yakima, WA is one of four ESDs in our state that provides migrant support services. Our support services match the unique contexts of the school districts we serve, and may include informal discussions, technical assistance, meetings, study sessions, workshops, facilitation of regional events, and ongoing job-embedded coaching.

4 Migrant Farmworker Student Voices Image Copyright: The Harvest (La Cosecha) Courtesy of Shine Global The Harvest (La Cosecha) Trailer: courtesy of Shine Global

5 The need for migrant education services in the United States There are approximately 350,000 migrant students in the United States according to data from the Dept. of Ed.

6 Migrant Farmworker Family Migration Patterns Map image retrieved from

7 Migrant Education is a Federal Program 1965 Passage of Elementary and Secondary Education Act Title 1, Part C Migrant Education Program to address the special needs of mobile farm worker children.

8 The need for migrant education services in the ESD 105 region Washington State is one of the top four states in the nation in regards to the numbers of migrant students we serve. With approximately 37,000 students served in our state, the ESD 105 region serves 13,900 (over 35%) of the overall migrant student population for our state. This number is growing as we increase efforts to identify students in the preschool age group.

9 The need for migrant education services in the ESD 105 region Our WaKIDS data shows that our migrant preschoolers entering our kindergarten classrooms are our most at-risk population of students in our state. We estimate that there are over 5,000 migrant children under the age of five in our state. 16% of our migrant students are one or more years behind in school (retention or credits) 50-60% of our migrant students graduate (compared to 90% for non-migrant) 55% of migrant students within Washington s K-12 system were classified as Limited English Proficient.

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11 A, B, C or D The average total family income for a migrant farm worker family of four ranges from: A.$28,000 - $32,000 B.$24,000-$28,000 C.$20,000-$24,000 D.$17,000 to $20,000 The federal poverty level in 2014 for a family of four is $23,850. -US Dept. of Health and Human Services

12 A, B, C or D In Washington State, agricultural law states that a child can begin working at age; A. 8 B. 12 C. 14 D. 16 Washington State does allow for allowances on age requirement.

13 True or False In Washington State and in our Nation, there are laws limiting how many hours a day and how many days a week a 12 year old (and older) child can work in the fields.

14 Perla her struggles and frustration navigating school as a migrant student. Image Copyright: The Harvest (La Cosecha) Courtesy of Shine Global The Harvest (La Cosecha) Trailer: courtesy of Shine Global

15 How at risk are our migrant preschool and kindergarten students?

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18 Migrant Preschool Consortium Incentive Grant: Washington State (OSPI) has joined forces with 8 other states (plus 2 partner states) as part of a Migrant Preschool Consortium.

19 19 What is the Preschool Initiative? A group of 12 state MEPs dedicated to: Increasing the amount of PK services to migrant children; Improving the quality of those services to meet the unique needs of migrant children; Supporting parents to be able to take a larger, more proactive role in preparing their children for success in school Ensuring migrant children get a strong educational foundation

20 Long Term Goals More migrant eligible children have access to high quality early learning programs Families have more access to early learning information and resources Schools have increased funds to offer kindergarten transition activities such as jumpstart Readiness gaps for migrant children decrease Achievement gaps for migrant students decrease Graduation rates increase

21 What have we accomplished so far? ESD regions across our state are beginning to focus more on early learning supports for migrant preschool children. New partnerships are being formed that haven t existed before in early learning. Washington State s annual Preschool-Third Grade conference, Starting Strong, will now have a strand that focuses on migrant students. The number of migrant preschoolers identified is increasing. School districts are beginning to ask how they improve identification practices so that they are finding and identifying preschoolers who are migrant eligible. Migrant services to preschool children is now a part of our state service delivery plan Our state-funded preschool is beginning to consider allowing some preschool slots to be delayed entry date slots to allow time for mobile families to still access preschool.

22 Contact Information: Cynthia Juarez Executive Director of Early Learning and Migrant Education (509) Lexi Catlin Migrant Education Preschool Coordinator (509)